When you need an another bike a return one the app don't work anymore. Probably because the credit card company needs a couple of days to process the money. so if you rent a bike, keep it all the way read more

We are a family of 5 and rented these bikes for few hours on May 5. It cost us 82 euros for 130 mins. We have never used Velov bikes and the system before and we never will again. What a nightmare. I have spent hours dealing with this. They charged my credit card 3 times after for different amounts and we all rode together!! They charged us the day we used them May 5, but also May 12 and then again May 23 for an extra 35 euros. why the extra 35 Euros ?? I emailed them and they took weeks to provide details and then told us too bad so sad that you did not park one of the bikes correctly so it continued to charge us up to the max of 35 Euros per day for one bike that we did not use. I finally had to lodge a complaint with my credit card company for the May 23 charge and cancel my credit card to prevent them from taking another charge. For tourists who have never used these systems it is actually complicated the first time with all the rules and technical aspects of parking the bikes. There are going to be mistakes especially when there are 5 new users. The problem is that Velov has access to your credit card. This is the problem with using apps and associated credit cards for time rental activities . There is no human telling or checking that it wasn't done properly. Now they hide behind email and rules and technical features and basically say too bad so sad you made a mistake because you did not park the bike properly !!! but we got your money already so too bad so sad again !! This is no way to run a business for a city. I run an insurance business and we have a human touch explaining everything and when people make mistakes we don't penalize them. We give them the benefit of the doubt and make it right. Be very careful and do not expect leniency and or understanding for mistakes! Better yet do not give them your credit card if possible. read more

If you're living in Lyon for more than a month, you won't regret it. You MUST sign up for Velo'v! It is arguably the most convenient way to get around...and fun!! It never shuts down - it is 24/7, without fail. When the metro closes at night, this is sometimes the only way to get home (cabs are hard to find). Signing up is a real hassle...but once you're through the red tape, it's hard to imagine a better system. The only downside is that like any other commodity, it's hard to satisfy demand. So if a lot of people are following your same commuter pattern in the city, you may find that the only bikes left are the ones that don't work (about 20% of bikes at a given stop usually don't work well). Late at night, all the 'parking' spots are usually taken, and you often have to search for another station. But overall, a fantastic system. My preferred mode of transport in Lyon. read more

See all

TL;DR summary: got charged 150EUR, problems unlocking and locking bike, out-of-service terminals, waiting lines at stations, unreliable customer service I'm a huge proponent of biking, especially as a way of getting around the city. I think Velo'v is doing great work for its citizens in Lyon and also for tourists. That being said, I had a TERRIBLE experience using their bike sharing system in Feb 2019. First off, the paper-keycard that the machine issues you when renting a bike barely works when trying to unlock bikes. We were constantly tapping it on the transmitter of the bikes for up to 5 mins trying to unlock a single bike. Imagine repeatedly standing there going from bike to bike tapping constantly. Some friendly locals did offer to help which was really nice of them, but even they couldn't figure it out. They use the app, which I'll bring up again later. The next day, when trying to purchase a single-day pass again, we weren't issued a paper-keycard for some reason - but instead was told from the terminal we could just use the receipt number and put it in the terminal to unlock any bike. Sounds awesome we thought so we didn't have to use those unreliable keycards! Boy was I wrong. For several periods during the day, walking from one terminal to the next, we found out that a lot of the terminals were NOT in service. Great, now because we don't have a keycard, we can't unlock any bikes anywhere. I've contacted Velo'v customer service during this time to try to solve a work-around and the type of response I got back was 'If the terminals aren't working, what the hell am I suppose to do from here?'. There was also the issue of trying to lock your bike at a busy terminal - you NEED to put it back into the locking mechanism, and if they're all full with bikes, you HAVE to wait for someone to take out a bike. You can see how this is a problem since you have people lining up to return bikes, with a faulty terminal to prevent others to take one out. This was experienced at Parc de la Tête d'Or (beautiful park, definitely check it out!) The last day was indeed the worst. Eventually, the evening before, we were able to rent our last day pass after the terminals came back online. There was an instance where one of the bikes we were using had some issues with locking at one of the terminals (IMPORTANT: you're suppose to watch out for a green-light indicator and a 'beep' sound when locking). We walked to another terminal and had the same problem. At this point, it's night time and we're exhausted. I tried called Velo'v about the issue but they close their customer service at 1900 on Sundays. Every minute that passes when we can't lock the bike, we get charged since you're only suppose to be using the bikes at every 20min intervals. So we decided it was just a bug or something and that the bike is in fact locked and left it there to go for dinner at a nearby restaurant. Upon returning, the bike is gone and we can't rent out a bike since the system sees it as being used. Great, whether it was a problem in the system or someone actually stole the bike I still don't know to this day. The next morning, customer service told me to go back to the station (for this reason, I have no idea). Since one of us couldn't bike, we walked a good 45 mins in the morning. I get there, not a single bike in sight, called customer service again like they asked me to do, and just told me 'oh, well just leave your name and phone number and we'll contact you if it shows up'. I did, called them repeatedly that same day and emailed them twice over the past month and a half and have not received a response. I called them on the phone only to be brought to some representative who can barely speaks English. Now I've talked to several other people from Velo'v on the phone and managed quite well in English so you'll probably have a good experience if you do end up calling them. To add insult to injury, I got charged 150EUR on my credit card for failing to return my bike. I'm not implying that I was wrongly charged even if I did manage to not secure the bike in the first place, which I thought wasn't my fault at the time. I'm just giving this negative review as an accumulation of my negative experiences I had with the three days I used Velo'v. If you managed to read my boring rant of a review until now, I STRONGLY suggest you use the Velo'v app and NOT the terminal when renting the bikes. Lyon is a really lovely city, with friendly locals and amazing cuisine. Biking is an environmentally friendly, economic, and fun way to explore the city and Lyon has a decent biking infrastructure and that drivers are respectful for cyclists. I hope none of you will have any problems like I had in the past. read more

Terrible experience! Their custome service is AWEFUL! We had a great time renting their bike but now I regret it; the security deposit was charged from our cards and still, after three whole week, we have not it back!! I emailed them several time and called them several time too, but no one answered and the only time they answered they did not help me at all! Terrible terrible experience! read more

I love it! 15 euros for an abonnement and 1 hour of free cycling, each traject. Lots of Velo V points. It's a very convenient way of transport, you don't have to worry about anything, only where you can pick up or drop off a bike, but there are so many points that you find them almost anywhere. read more